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Hurricane Harvey and Irma Unleash a Flood of Scams

Ruthless scammers exploit people’s goodwill by defrauding them via fake sites, malware and phishing, as well as via in-person visits and phone calls.

The devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma has been immense and deeply shocking. Dozens of people have lost their lives, thousands are homeless, Texas and Florida are underwater, homes have been cut into driftwood, while industry and normal life are now at a standstill.

The plight of hurricane victims moves nearly everybody. Many of us want to do something to help, by giving money, time or both. Such widespread goodwill, typical of all natural disasters, has been a beacon for criminals who have gone into top gear devising scams.

The Better Business Bureau has reported seeing crowdfunding appeals of a dubious nature, and in the days ahead expect to see ‘storm chasers’ looking to make a quick buck from cleanup efforts (bbb.org/storm).

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In addition, US-CERT has warned people “to remain vigilant for malicious cyber activity seeking to capitalize on interest in Hurricane Harvey.” The agency advises people to exercise caution in handling any email with subject line, attachments, or hyperlinks related to Hurricane Harvey, even if it appears to originate from a trusted source.

SurfWatch Labs, a provider of cyber threat intelligence solutions, noted in a recent customer alert that it observed hundreds of new domains being registered containing “harvey,” many of which will likely be used for scams.

Advice from US-CERT

The agency encourages users and administrators to use caution when encountering Harvey-related email messages and to take the following preventative measures to protect themselves from phishing scams and malware campaigns:

Verify the legitimacy of any email solicitation by contacting the organization directly through a trusted contact number. You can find trusted contact information for many charities on the BBB National Charity Report Index.

To summarize: be very wary of any mail or website related to Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma, as it will likely be a scam.